1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of medical testing methods and processes, and particularly in the field of diagnostic methods and processes. Still more particularly, the present invention is directed to a method or process for estimating the platelet adhesiveness of human subjects in whole blood.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The role of platelet adhesiveness in blood clotting has been studied scientifically in detail. As is well known, blood clotting is a desirable occurrence for the purpose of stopping bleeding from a wounded or injured vein or artery. However, the formation of blood clots, and the associated phenomena of adhesion of platelets to the walls of vein and arteries is undesirable as it is believed to be a significant cause or factor in cardiovascular disease and death. The role of platelet adhesiveness in "desirable" blood clotting to stop blood flow from wounds, and also in the platelets, undesirable contribution to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, have been studied scientifically in great detail, and have been the subject of voluminous scientific and medical literature.
An article by E. W. Salzman titled "Measurement of Platelet Adhesiveness" in the Journal of Laboratory & Clinical Medicine (November 1963) describes a "filter" containing glass beads through which a blood sample is drawn into an evacuated collection tube. The number of platelets retained by the glass beads in the "filter" is determined, in accordance with the Salzman article, by measuring the platelet count per unit volume in the blood thus collected by suction in the evacuated collection tube. The article teaches that low platelet adhesiveness is an indication of von Willebrand disease, and further that consistent or useful test data were not obtained when the blood samples are collected without suction, that is into open, rather than into evacuated, collection tubes. The Salzman article is not concerned with determination of platelet adhesiveness as an indicator of a person's state of health, condition, or degree of risk with respect to atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular disease.
Thus, in spite of the important role plaid by platelet adhesiveness in atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular disease, the prior art has developed no reliable nor simple diagnostic device or method for determining the adhesiveness or adhesion tendency of blood platelets, and thereby for determining, by a simple test, a parameter or characteristic which is indicative of a person's condition with respect to adhesion or clotting of platelets in the person's veins and arteries. The present invention, on the other hand, provides such a simple diagnostic method.